Posts tagged “first offense”

I often come across with a lot of negative vibe when discussing world affairs or philosophical points. To be fair though, I do feel I try to offer solutions, even if they seem unlikely to ever be used. Here are ten things I think would drastically improve the direction of the United States in a way that would benefit everyone except for those that are doing more harm than good.

It is time for the people to put a few demands on the table for the well-being of all of us. It is time for us to quit following the patterns of behavior we have developed just because “it has always been that way”. I mean, how fucking stupid does a person have to be to sit there and say “I know this doesn’t work but we’ve always done it that way so we shouldn’t change.”

1. Make it illegal for members of Congress to own stocks of any kind.- So right off the bat I have extreme solution number one. Do not give me the song and dance about how they have the right to invest. These men and women are taking oaths to represent the people, then turn on them for financial gain at the expense of the very people who elected them. If you want to be wealthy as far as stocks go, if you want a massive portfolio of investments, go ahead…….but do it outside of Congress. The members of Congress, as well as the presidential choices we’ve had, have become so poor that we have forgotten that they work for us. They are more than compensated with six figure salaries and all their expenses and accommodations(which are usually fairly luxurious). The point is this…..it is time we forcibly restore honor to the position of representation. We do this by making the job of a politician more one of esteem for good deeds than as a conduit to massive wealth. Again, if you want to be super rich, have a massive investment portfolio, go right ahead. But for the good of all of us, you can’t do BOTH that and win a Senate seat. If you want to represent your fellow citizens, help improve your country, make the country’s future and the way it will affect your children a positive thing, then we will happily pay you well over $100,000 dollars along with great insurance, all work expenses paid and a great pension. You just can’t own any stock. This first change alone would have a drastic effect on the general level of accomplishment from our always bickering current Congress because we would have people in it for the nobility of it. Yes, the money would drive some of them still, a six figure salary is a lot of money over a lifetime, but when the decisions they make as far as government contracts, as far as regulation, as far as any kind of federal favoritism, there will be no conflict of interest clouding their decisions. Does that mean all their decisions will be great? Of course not but at least there will not be an obvious financial motivation.

2. Significantly reduce the size of the United Statesmilitary.- Calm Down! Sorry, that was for all the people who barely read that sentence and assumed I want either the downfall of the United States or for us to get invaded. Get real. The size of our military would be beyond massive even if you cut it in half. Tens of thousands of fighter jets, bombers, transports, tanks, transport trucks and tanks, all manner of land air and sea vehicles. Over 4,000 nuclear bombs…..4,000……..and enough aircraft carriers to conquer the world. Two dozen satellites…most countries have maybe a few at most, none that equal the technological advances of ours. Some people would tell you we need all these things to remain “safe” in the modern world. I would tell you those people are morons. We have so overbuilt our military that it almost seems like we almost have to be at war all the time to avoid having tens of thousands of pieces of equipment just gathering dust. Why? Why do we need a military large enough to easily defeat a force that does not exist? You want to keep a strong military that is fine but 700 billion dollars per year?? Wasteful, unnecessary and money spent on killing that could be instead spent on caring.

3. Start Taking The Integrity Of The Media Seriously.- There is no truth coming from our media sources. Like the corporations getting an unfair advantage, our media sources are owned by the people they do the vast majority of their reporting on. Being a journalist should be a position that is revered for its honesty, its lack of bias. Having a literal army of former party members still financially connected to the parties they are reporting on should be highly irregular, if not illegal. These people, the media sources, have a responsibility to the public to report facts yet the people doing the commentary, all former politicians, do exactly the opposite as they spin every story they can to their parties advantage as if they were still elected officials. This conflict of interest, along with many others, needs to be forcibly stopped by the people. It is time for us to put our feet down and use the power in numbers we have to DEMAND things like this change.

4. Get Religion Out Of The Government- Look, let’s be honest, religion is becoming a less and less serious part of the American way and that is only a problem if you believe the government should enforce religious views. Not everyone believes in God and even if they say they do, they often have different levels of commitment and styles of interpretation of scripture. While religion is an important part of many people’s lives, it is not a proven fact, a unified belief and therefore has no place in the operation of our government. The one thing about religion that no sane person can argue is that everything about it is about belief and with that being true, we cannot write laws to govern such things.Our government is not the Church, they are not there to enforce scripture on the people, many of who do not believe in said scripture. Abortion, Gay Marriage, prayer in school, none of these are issues that are to be solved through laws and government. Instead, it is up to each person to make their own decision and up to the rest of the people to stay out of their lives. It is also up to society to provide environments where a person’s personal beliefs are neither forced or restricted as long as they aren’t harming anyone else. Don’t like what you neighbor thinks about God? Then shutup and don’t worry about it because if you truly believe in what you say you do, it is up to your God to decide their fates.

5.Adjust the priorities of what we are spending tax dollars on- It is truly amazing what we spend our money on as far as taxes and government go in this country. To advance as a nation and as a people, we need to start putting the correct emphasis on what we use our tax dollars for. Spend money on education instead of war. Spend money on infrastructure instead of secret experimentation. We have enough defense to stop an invasion force larger than any on this planet so instead of continuing to build as if we are invaded on a daily basis, instead spend that money on the physical and mental well-being of the people. Recognize logic and instead of being afraid of offending this group or that one, do what common sense dictates. As far as social services go, make sure the money being given out is being used for what it is supposed to. If you are on welfare, unemployment, or any other kind of government entitlement then you are receiving enough help to be open to being drug tested to ensure that the money the rest of the taxpayers are giving you is not being spent so you can get high.

6. Make the intelligence and other agencies in our government more transparent and therefore moreaccountable.- Agencies like the CIA are out of control. There is no reason that these agencies need either the bloated budgets they have or the leeway to just operate as they see fit. The CIA has been spending your tax dollars on assassinating people, drugging American citizens, financing private wars with dictators that we later hunt down and kill, interfering with and influencing sovereign governments, trafficking drugs, trafficking weapons and any additional number of highly illegal activities. They are breaking the law on a regular basis and the scariest part of it is the acceptance of their behavior by our citizens. It is almost an accepted fact that the CIA had some level of involvement in assassinating JFK, trafficking weapons and drugs to the Mexican drug cartels and any number of horrific actions that would be considered “terrorism” if another agency outside this country did them. If that is the case then why isn’t it terrorism when the CIA does it?

7. Close military bases protecting other countries until we have a balancedbudget.- I have no problem with us helping other countries but until we have our own backyard in order, why should our money be protecting others while we struggle? We have built this country fighting our own battles and instead of losing American lives and American tax dollars protecting the borders of other countries, we should instead have those troops and those dollars doing things that will contribute positively to our economy and our own borders…..borders that have illegal immigrants pouring through them along with countless illegal drugs for years(some of them by the CIA, see #6).

8. Put crushing penalties on corporations and companies that send jobs out of the country.- Our jobs need to stay here. You want your company to make money in other countries? Then move there. The days of companies raking in huge profits off our people while paying people in other countries to produce what they are selling needs to end. Our country exists at a higher level than most and if we want to keep it that way, the jobs need to stay here. American products need to be produced by American people if we are going to regain the manufacturing prowess this country used to have. You want to employ Chinese people who you can pay half as much? THEN MOVE TO CHINA AND TAKE YOU COMPANY WITH YOU. Trust me, Americans will find a way to fill the void you leave with American made products by American employees being sold for American prices in the American economy.

9. Make acts of government corruption a one-strike, life imprisonment offense.- It is not possible to “accidentally” rip off the American people and as the citizens, and the OWNERS of this country, we need to demand the highest level of integrity from our leaders. You don’t think that penalty is fair? Then do not run for office because when you do and then you rip the people off, we all suffer so much, so many people are affected that there is no way you should not spend the rest of your life behind bars. There is no argument against this that holds any water and to argue against harsher penalties is to try to make an excuse for people to be doing things they KNOW are wrong. In the old, old days there was a thing called an angry mob and people feared them. Today, the leadership has done everything they can to legislate corruption right into the system and also allow chance after chance for these guys to commit crimes right out in the open and get only a slap on the wrist while regular citizens spend decades in jail for far lesser crimes.

10.SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING ABOUT HOSTESS!!!WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUTTWINKIES!!!– Sorry I had to put one fun one in there…..:)

Any system, be it a mechanical one, a mathematical one or whatever, if that system is broken then it is impossible to use the very system to fix itself. This is the problem that so many Americans have allowed themselves to be distracted from when considering the current state of our country. We have a broken system of government and all the citizens are arguing about which version of that broken system would be best used to fix the broken system. It is truly an exercise in lunacy if you look at it as it truly is.

Think about it like this. The Republicans and the Democrats have been running this country for countless decades, both of them. Back and forth they have switched control of the top office as well as Congress, but it an indisputable fact that they have been in control for well over a half century. Now knowing that the previous statement is one of absolute truth, the kind of truth that is as obvious as stating that water is wet, why would anyone think that the best people to solve the massive problems facing this country would be the Republicans and the Democrats?? They have been in control for decades and their policies and their solutions have led to these problems so why would they suddenly start working now???

To believe that these people and their beliefs, their solutions, their ideas, would cause problem after problem after problem after problem for decade after decade after decade after decade and then suddenly start working is unbelievably ludicrous!!!!!!!!! I have no better way to put it, no deeper way to enlighten any of you, that is just how it is.

Election after election after election, the people who made these problems, using their principles, keep convincing the general public that the principles that made all these problems and issues, will suddenly do something they have NEVER done before, that is fix the problems. There is no argument that can be made in defense of our current cycle of insanity, it is just so obviously true.

I will go on more about this but why bother? No amount of explanation can make my previous statements any more obvious, and if your argument against this position is saying the left or the right can solve the issues we have, then you need to take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror. When you support either party, you are supporting ALL the failed policies, ALL the terrible decisions.

The two-party system that has taken over politics in this country is one where the followers of the two major parties basically ignore the fact that whichever party they support, they have been at LEAST half of the problem. The Democrats are one and the Republicans are the other. No matter which way you place the blame, they BOTH have some, and together they have been 100% of the problem in the continued downturn of this country FOR DECADES NOW. The party’s members are virtually all wealthy, all heavily invested in the biggest banks, corporations and insurance companies in the world. The party members, regardless of whether it is the Democrats or Republicans, truly have more of a vested interest in the corporations they are invested in than they do in HELPING YOU, THE VERY PEOPLE THEY REPRESENT. The problems that plague our society remain many of the same ones that are always a problem; healthcare, education, immigration, corporate corruption, abortion, the economy, all of these are the same problems that have been there for decades.

I mean, not one permanent solution? Not one? In what, like 30 years? If we cannot find permanent solutions to even one of the many major issue such as the economy, immigration, social security, Medicare and Medicaid, taxes, foreign policy……things that affect each of us in our daily lives, then is it fair to say that the model of society we have chosen in this country may be failing? Has it begun to become nothing more that a constant back and forth argument that is perpetual in its cycle?

I guess in the end, what I am saying is that there are mass amounts of facts that support the argument that our form of capitalism and representative government is a failure. This has nothing to do with freedom or liberty, other than the fact that the leaders of this country have taken some of yours. It has to do with a system we created proving time and time again that it does not work, plain and simple. Even worse, as it continues to decline, the people you have put in control are getting richer as the lower and middle class struggle. It is so obviously apparent, so illogical in the way the people who are struggling are the ones choosing those that make them struggle, that the only logical reason the struggling people would continue to support these two groups is either mass mental illness, or they are completely and utterly under the control of the most powerful individuals whether they realize it or not. Look in a mirror and tell me which one you are…..

So today, there is much discussion going on concerning the Supreme Court, by a 5-3 vote, striking down a significant part of the recent Arizona immigration law. While the majority of the law was ruled to be in violation or undermining federal law, the part of it that allows police to demand proof of citizenship remained, angering some and bringing great joy to others. I am here to tell you this whole fight is ridiculous, foolish and a real sign of how truly broken our system of government has become and as usual, I will be happy to explain why.

First off, let us all get one thing straight. This country was founded by immigrants. Unless you are of Native American lineage, then you are the descendant of an immigrant if you live in the United States. That being said, all these people out there who are calling for the borders to be completely closed are, at best hypocrites and at worst racists. Every single person who is willing to go through the necessary steps to live here has just as much right to do so as any American so again, unless you are a Native American, you should quiet down unless you feel the country should be closed off to you as well. Nobody stopped your relatives from making the move that allowed you to be born here so shut up already, you sound like a fool.

Secondly, if you are in this country illegally then you are breaking the law, plain and simple. If your parents came here illegally and then had you once they were here, illegally, then you have no one to be angry at other than them, plain and simple. Your parents breaking the law when you were a child does not change the law, nor does it justify you not taking the steps as an adult to abide by said law. If you are a child still and your parents are not taking the legal steps to help you gain citizenship, then your parents should still have the pay the penalty because they are breaking the law!

Thirdly, no one in the government should be surprised that this group of people breaks this law. Do you know why? It is very, very simple. If the government, either state or local, refuses to enforce the penalty for breaking a law then why would the people breaking it stop doing it? Do you really think that if suddenly the state and federal government no longer cared about, or pursued the people committing bank robberies that the number of robberies would go down? Of course not, and if it was publicly known that bank robbing was a crime that would no longer be enforced, as is the situation with it being known fact that pretty much no one enforces being here illegally as a crime, then we would see the bank robberies skyrocket. Why wouldn’t we? You walk into a bank, harm no one and walk out with free money and even when a cop knows you did it, he doesn’t arrest you? Hell, I would almost consider robbing a bank in that scenario.

The reason I make that comparison is this. I spent about five years living in Arizona in my mid-twenties. During my time there I saw protest march after protest march, literally thousands of known felons walking down the street in a parade, walk right past policeman after policeman and I never once saw a cop arrest one of these people as they committed a felony right in front of them. What was even more ironic was the fact that the people protesting their treatment by the government were not citizens!! Is that how the world is now? I can go to Russia and say their government isn’t treating me right when I am a citizen of another country and not theirs?? WHAT???

Now some of your reading this may think I am being harsh or unfair but let me expand on my statements a little more before you judge me fully. The system in this country for gaining citizenship is obviously flawed. If it was not, we would not have this problem. Both sides are to blame. The government is to blame for not pulling their heads out of their asses and fixing what is obviously a broken system and also allowing this problem to fester as long as they have. Not to repeat myself but when it is a known fact for decades that coming here illegally is no big deal, and also why corporations and employers are able to financially profit from it, why would either side worry about fixing it? On the immigrant side, in my opinion, saying that the process is too difficult or too much of a pain in the ass, or takes too long is still no excuse to not even try. If you own a business, there are all sorts of rules that are an annoying and frustrating process to go through, from insurance, to wages, to taxes, to liability but that doesn’t mean a business can just skip doing them. Saying “I do not like a law” is not justification to then just ignore it and if you choose to do so, you should be held accountable.

I believe marijuana should be legal and for much of my younger life, I was a regular smoker. The thing is though is that despite my disagreement with the law, I knew I would be liable for the consequences if I was caught and I accepted the risk. At no time would I walk by a cop smoking a joint because I knew I would be arrested and I do not see how being here illegally, a much more serious felony, does not fall into the same category. Immigrant protests participated in by openly illegal immigrants are a regular thing in this country because the law is not enforced. You will never see a pro-marijuana protest in a major city with thousands of people walking down the street openly smoking pot because police would arrest these people. You can bet if it became common knowledge that they wouldn’t though, people would do it right out in the open.

So as you can see, both sides of this issue are hugely at fault and have a responsibility to meet somewhere in the middle. I propose what I believe is a very simple fix. First off, the government has a responsibility to fix the system, to make it more efficient so that the process doesn’t rob people of the fair opportunity to become citizens. The illegals have a responsibility to begin the process for citizenship, even if they don’t like it because it is the law! I propose that all illegal immigrants be given a window, let’s say six months, to apply for citizenship. If they refuse to even apply after that window, then they should be arrested. I am not talking about the people already in the process but those who have never even tried. Doing so would increase the burden on the system to increase its efficiency in order to handle the sudden influx of all these people who should have applied before. Actually, if you think about it, doing this would likely increase the need for people to work on immigration applications and in doing so CREATE MORE JOBS! This way, we end illegal citizenship, we put the onus on the government to quit screwing around and infighting and actually change the system for the better and we add a positive effect on the economy. If you want this change to have an even further positive effect for everyone, give businesses out there that are employing illegals right now some sort of tax break or tax credit for every employee they assist in gaining citizenship, therefore helping the businesses pay lower taxes, which in turn will help them have more capital to spend in the economy and also to put more people to work. It would be a win for every single person out there, even the police. The police could then spend less time worrying about what seems to me to be a crime fueled by bureaucratic incompetence and more time chasing actual criminals that are hurting innocent, hard-working citizens.

In the end, I support anyone who wants to be an American citizen having the right to but they have to follow the rules. Those who write and enforce the rules have a responsibility to both enforce them and also to make the process not so painful that people will risk jail or deportation to avoid the headache. I hate the DMV like everyone else. It is slow, inefficient, confusing, uncomfortable, a headache every time I go there but it is the law and I need to drive so I deal with it. Immigrants who want to live here need to do the same as far as applying for their citizenship but I do sympathize with their frustration and wish the government would quit being a constant headache and actually start helping the people. I just don’t get why both can’t happen.

I am a mixed martial arts fan, and in reading the news today concerning the sport, I was disappointed to see that Nick Diaz, a fighter hated by many people but someone I routinely cheer for, tested positive for marijuana following a recent loss. This is not the first offense for Diaz and because of that, he likely faces a long suspension but I am not disappointed that he tested positive for what he did, I am more disappointed that marijuana continues to be marked as a dangerous and illegal drug when there are so many facts that prove the opposite.

This is often a country of hypocrisy but in the case of marijuana, it is even worse than usual. To have alcohol consumed at virtually every public establishment legally while non violent, pot offenders sit in jail is one of the longest running and most ridiculous travesties of justice in American culture.

We live in a society of drug users. From nicotine, to caffeine, to any number of prescription drugs used to “relax”, you would be hard pressed to find someone in this country that truly does no drugs. We demand our right to calm ourselves but we are illogical in our choice of what is allowed and what isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, drugs are generally bad. Drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and LSD are dangerous and should be kept away from the general public but to classify marijuana in the same category is beyond ridiculous. For a comparison, let us take a look at alcohol. Anyone who has gotten drunk in their life knows that too much alcohol has a serious effect on a human being. Physically, alcohol affects coordination, balance, vision and over time will destroy both the liver and the brain. Even worse, alcohols biggest negative is the effect it has on others when you are using it. Though the numbers vary, alcohol is typically involved in over 40% of all fatality related accidents. Almost half. Even worse, consider the following example. On a Friday night in this country, most bars are packed. Full of people getting drunk, and despite the fact that drunk driving is illegal and dangerous, how many of those people do you think have a designated driver? Or will take a taxi home that night? A small percentage, let me assure you. Despite that fact, instead of ensuring people are drinking responsibility, police would rather let those people leave, get in their cars, and drive off before pulling them over to enforce this “law”. In doing so we wind up with literally thousands of drunks on the roads virtually every single night, thousands of people whose vehicles have now become weapons of destruction. Additionally, we accept the fact that people are just going to do this, going to kill others with their irresponsible use of alcohol, and we are happy to just catch the ones we can and let the rest slip through the cracks, often killing innocent people as a result. If we really cared about people not doing this willing act of endangering other innocent people, wouldn’t we have a system in place to prevent the drunk from even driving in the first place.

The reason I attack alcohol so feverishly is that when you look at those facts, and then compare the damage that something like marijuana does to a person you see there is truly no comparison between the two. In truth, the biggest reason, at least in my opinion, marijuana remains illegal is simply because of the religiously zealous and the government’s refusal to admit they were wrong. On top of that, during a time in our country when so many states are financially struggling, we are ignoring a cash crop that people are using anyway and in doing so, throwing away literally hundreds of millions of potential tax dollars that would benefit states in ways that few other things would right now while doing practically no damage beyond anything that is already going on.

Wake up people and get with the times. People are going to use, en masse, anything they deem worth their time and whether you like it or not, there are many of us out here who enjoy smoking a joint as much as you enjoy downing a shot of whiskey. the only difference is that while your drinking contributes to death of others legally, our habit gets us thrown in jail while harming no one save ourselves, and that harm to us is far less than legal things like cigarettes and alcohol.